Finding some time for Hearts

by Staci L. Smith

I can't even believe that I found some time to work on these, but I did.  I squeezed in some time while doing this, and added some patina while doing that.................and now they are done.  I really felt like I needed them in my shop right after Christmas, because one of my hearts will be featured in Bead Star Magazine, thanks to Erin Strother (you can check out her etsy site here). YOu see, she won a giveaway of mine for a heart focal, and then used it to enter Bead Star, and she won! Erin did such a nice job with it too, I LOVED seeing what she did with it.  I can't wait to get a copy for myself. 

I really like how these turned out.  Some will be in the shop when I re-open after Christmas. ( I needed an etsy break, and just some time to catch up around here.)

I don't have photo's of each stage, below was post cutting, filing soldering and tumbling.

Some of these have holes and some have soldered bails on them, I tried to switch it up for some variety.  I really like how folk art they turned out.  It wasn't my intention, but the dots and shapes just took a life of their own.

Here are some of the hearts in the patination process.

And here they are all finished.  There are also some new polymer focals to the left of the photo that will be added to the shop.  I made them just for me, but decided to make some extra for you guys, just in case you liked them.  I always like a good spiral bead for a focal.

They just need to be waxed now and they are ready to photo and list.  Although that will have to wait until after Christmas. 

Have you squeezed in any last minute projects amoung the hustle and bustle of the holiday?